Concerned about Ford’s racing program and what it was doing with the Shelby Cobra, Chevrolet’s Zora Duntov launched the Grand Sport program in 1962. The plan was to build lightweight, race car around the second-generation Corvette and use it for international grand touring events. The project was kept secret from GM executives, who thought that Chevy shouldn’t go racing, and was stopped as soon as rumors about Duntov’s brainchild started to spread. Fortunately, Zora managed to complete five cars, giving the world some of the most coveted and valuable Corvettes ever built. More than five decades have passed since then and the Grand Sport nameplate returns on the seventh-generation Corvette.
Rumored ever since the current Vette was unveiled in 2013, the C7 Grand Sport broke cover at the 2016 Geneva Auto Show. Pretty much a Z06 with a naturally aspirated engine under the hood, the new Grand Sport is aimed at purists that know power isn’t everything. Is it a coincidence that the C7 Grand Sport was revealed at the same event that brought us the Porsche 911 R? Most likely, but this is probably the beginning of a beautiful rivalry that should spawn many battles on the road and at the track.
The C7 Grand Sport is actually the fourth generation to wear the iconic badge. After Duntov’s program was cancelled, the nameplate returned in 1996 as final edition of the C4. The third model arrive in 2010 as an LS3-equipped, C6 Z06 with a steel frame instead of aluminum. Is this new version of the C7 worthy of Grand Sport name? Keep reading to find out.
Updated 04/29/2016: Chevrolet dropped prices for the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport which will be put on sale later this summer. Check the "Prices" section for more details.
Continue reading to learn more about the 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport.
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